The rocky East Coast of North America is dotted with islands and rocky shoals which have been a treacherous problem for ships since the beginning of cross-Atlantic seafaring. Many of the famous coastal shipwrecks are the result of sandbars – shifting, shallow mounds of sediment often hiding just beneath the surface of the water and impossible to detect at night. Ships run aground on the invisible sandbars, sometimes incurring serious damage and ending up beached when the tide rolls out.

A number of islands and coastal features, notorious for attracting shipwrecks due to their prevalence for sandbars, have received the ominous nickname “Graveyard of the Atlantic”.

1. Sable Island, Nova Scotia (Canada)

Sable Island is a narrow, 42 km long crescent-shaped barrier island¹ about 180 km off the coast of Nova Scotia. Perhaps the oldest and best documented of the Atlantic Graveyards, between 1583 and 1999 Sable Island lured over 350 ships to their doom.

Most of the shipwrecks have today been washed away or buried by the shifting sands, and the Google imagery of the island doesn’t include any visible wrecks; but the precarious sandbars are visible just off the island’s edges.

The government of Nova Scotia has produced a map listing the location, names, and dates of about 200 Sable Island shipwrecks which occurred between 1797 and 1946.

Sable Island today is a nature preserve, known as much for its wild horses and endemic species as for its dark nautical history.

2. Cape Cod, Massachusetts (USA)

Perhaps Massachusetts’ most noticeable geographic feature, Cape Cod is the large “hook” extending from the state’s south shore. Known today as a major seaside resort area, and the playground of New England’s upper classes, Cape Cod was one of the first places visited and settled by Europeans in the New World. As a result, it became a major shipping destination from colonial times through the 1800s.

While the long peninsula offers excellent protection from storms and heavy ocean currents to the inner waters of Cape Cod Bay, the interaction with the ocean generates many long, treacherous shoals. Over 3,000 ships are believed to have wrecked off the shore of Cape Cod between 1626 and 1898, including American War of Independence vessels like the decorated HMS Somerset. Over 20 lighthouses lie along Cape Cod’s eastern shoreline to warn navigators of the danger.

The sheer amount of shipwrecks on Cape Cod made it a haven for “mooncussers“, the pejorative term for scavengers who would, upon discovery of a wreck, rush out in skiffs and gather up any lost cargo and other goods, to then sell for their own profit. During this time the Cape became known as “Graveyard of Ships“.

Recently, the remains of a 19th century 50-foot schooner washed ashore on Newcomb Hollow Beach, well-preserved by the shifting sands for an estimated 90 years or more, so perhaps you’ll be the one to discover more undiscovered wrecks in the satellite imagery.

3. Outer Banks, North Carolina (USA)

From North Carolina to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia lies a series of barrier islands known as the Outer Banks. Like the long, curved shores of Sable Island and Cape Cod, this coastline has been responsible for over 1,000 shipwrecks dating as far back as 1526. Just like the others, this stretch of shore is also nicknamed “Graveyard of the Atlantic”, but it’s also home to the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum.

The coast between South Carolina and Virginia is lined with sunken vessels, many of them naval ships such as the most famous of the area’s shipwrecks, the USS Monitor, an early ironclad warship that saw action during the U.S. Civil War. The Association of Underwater Explorers has a map showing some of the most notable shipwrecks off the North Carolinian coast.

(Another area known for its shipwrecks is the Florida Keys, with hundreds of shipwrecks dating as far back as 1733. This area has not been granted the title “Graveyard of the Atlantic” but is known as Shipwreck Trail.)

You can read more about Sable Island, Cape Cod and the Outer Banks at Wikipedia.

Locations: Massachusetts, North Carolina, Nova Scotia / Categories: Islands, Watercraft

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The north island of New Zealand is home to Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapiki- maungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu.

Generally called Taumata, the Maori name for this 305m high hill in it’s full form can be translated as The summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the climber of mountains, the land-swallower who travelled about, played his nose flute to his loved one, though there are a number of other forms with different meanings.

In Wales we find the the village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

Often shortened to Llanfair PG, the name was invented in the 1860s as a means to attract tourists and can be translated as St Mary’s church in the hollow of the white hazel near to the rapid whirlpool and the church of St Tysilio of the red cave. Wikipedia has a helpful guide to pronunciation should you wish to visit.

Massachusetts is home to Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaug.

More commonly called Webster Lake, the name comes from the native Nipmuck language and means fishing place at the boundary, though again there are other forms with different meanings.

While the above are all names with a single word, the Guinness World Record for longest official name gives the title to the city of Bangkok: Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit.

This translates as The city of angels, the great city, the eternal jewel city, the impregnable city of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukam. More info at Wikipedia.

Thanks to Shea Marshall and Dave Lartigue.

Locations: Massachusetts, New Zealand, Thailand, Wales / Categories: Natural Landmarks, Weirdness

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Although it seems this election has been in the news for the last four years, there’s little mention of Obama or McCain on the images of Google Earth. However, we can find messages to the skies about the soon-to-be ex-President.

Underneath the approach to McCarran International Airport, someone has scrawled a message on the roof urging you to “Vote Bush” which, luckily, America is prevented from doing this time around.

In contrast, we find a “No W” logo in Lakewood Park, Massachusetts. It’s possible that this person is simply expressing their hate for the twenty-third letter of the alphabet, but the symbol is more commonly used to protest against George W Bush.

Whoever you prefer, we urge our American readers to stop messing about on the internet and go and vote.

Thanks to Brian LaPointe & SpiderX22

Locations: Massachusetts, Nevada / Categories: Large Type

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When Street View first launched we posted about this huge Jack-o’-lantern spotted off U.S. Route 287 in Broomfield, Colorado.

Since then somebody found this house on Adams Street¹ in the town of Easthampton, Massachusetts, which has been completely obscured by inflatable Halloween decorations, including a terrifying Tigger, whose frightening visage has been thankfully blurred by Google’s privacy software!

Achieving this level of terrification however, is still a simple matter of inflating some oversized cartoon characters. So you’ve got to take your hat off to whoever scrawled this looming Jack-o’-lantern right in the middle of Highway 51, Wisconsin!

What’s really frightening is that anyone thought that this was a good idea at some point in their drunken evening…

Thanks to Merlin and Virtual Globe Trotting.

Locations: Colorado, Massachusetts, Wisconsin / Categories: Buildings, Street Views

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With the service due to launch soon in Canada, Italy, Spain, Australia and Japan, we thought we’d mark the one year anniversary with a roundup of the best 10 Street View discoveries that we haven’t already posted to the site.

10) Google camera gets stuck in tree

Yes, this driver forgot he had a giant camera stuck to the top of his car, and drove it into a low-hanging tree.

9) The giant finger of doom

Arrgh! The giant finger of doom! Actually, if you pan round you can see that this is actually an image of a normal-sized man with the world’s biggest hand.

8) Working girls, working

Well, not actually in flagrante, but rather hanging around waiting to possibly um… service some customers?

7) Scuba diver on city street

Well he isn’t a Scuba diver unless he’s in the water. Walking along the road like this just makes him a bit of an idiot.

6) Segway convoy

Rubby ducky rubber ducky, come in, this is ageing geek! We got ourselves a convoy!

5) Usin publik transport: ur doin it rong

Is this the cab’s driver, or a passenger in need of some assistance? Perhaps this person has been subjected to a particularly lethal LOLcat attack?

4) Having to explain the enormously suspicious camera on the top of your car to a police officer

“Yes officer that’s right, taking photos to put on the internet!” *Click*.

3) Man with giant head stomps all over Street View car

A relative of the man with the world’s biggest hand, this man must surely have the largest head on the planet.

2) Post-it attack!

A couple of teenage girls take brilliantly surreal revenge upon somebody, and don’t blink as a car passes recording their actions forever…

1) How not to get IN a car

We’re stunned, we have absolutely no idea what the hell is going on here. Brilliantly bizarre and a worthy winner of the top spot!

Locations: California, Florida, Massachusetts, Missouri, Pennsylvania / Categories: Crowds, Rudeness, Street Views

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They’ve also linked to this cool image of the Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge in Boston for us – but what new activities can you find on the streets of these cities?

Just remember to send us your finds!

Thanks to Rob for letting us know.

Locations: Massachusetts / Categories: Site News, Street Views

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The Thanksgiving festival traditionally thanks God at the end of the year’s harvest, and is a tradition passed down from the Plymouth Colony who settled in New Plymouth in 1620.

When these Pilgrims first landed they apparently stepped on what is now known as “Plymouth Rock”, a large piece of granite which is currently housed in the rectangular building on the shore.

The rock wasn’t identified as being of any significance until over a hundred years later in 1741, when an elder of the church pointed it out as being “the stone”.

Since then it’s been broken in two, dragged all around Plymouth, and had numerous chunks removed. Its current resting place was built in 1920 and puts the rock back at sea level.

Happy thanksgiving to all our American readers!

Wikipedia: Plymouth Rock, Plymouth Colony & Thanksgiving

Thanks to Steve Ransom, AndrewAnorak & John

Locations: Massachusetts / Categories: Buildings

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So we’re very pleased to see that the latest finding, the words “Marry Me Tammy” written in a field, do pass our strict criteria for aerial-based marriage proposals. Congratulations!

However, some may call the suitor (a man named Brian) a cheater: he enlisted outside help to create his proposal! The giant writing was actually written by mapping specialists GISmatters for the reality television program ‘Perfect Proposal’.

The 100-foot high letters, claimed to be the World’s Largest Marriage Proposal, were revealed to Tammy from the window of an aeroplane back in 2004.

Thanks: Brian

Locations: Massachusetts / Categories: Large Type

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Update: As ever our readers have come to the rescue, and it seems that this is the Annursnac Hill Reservoir, a covered water storage facility sitting on the top of Annursnac Hill. There’s a fantastic birds-eye view of it over at Live Local, although Safari users be aware that it doesn’t work with your browser yet, but it works just fine in Firefox.

Thanks to Jesse.

Locations: Massachusetts / Categories: Structures

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Thanks: Rob B

Locations: Massachusetts / Categories: Large Type

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